‘I don’t want to just make stuff up – it’s a fictional character – so I thought I’d bring him back to let them know.’

While Brent may be back, another of the funnyman’s projects – the animated Ricky Gervais Show – will not be returning.

Speaking to The Sun he revealed that the show – which featured a cartoon version of himself with regular collaborators Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington – had run its course.

‘Why have I knocked it on the head? Well, apart from the fact that I have a very short attention span, we actually made more episodes of The Ricky Gervais Show than anything else I’ve ever done,’ he explained.

‘I also think we used all the best bits and I wouldn’t want the quality to go down.’